Monthly Archives: September 2006

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Just finished reading a Q&A with Rosie O’Donnell in the new issue of TV Guide. I really like the bigger format don’t you? (the magazine, not Rosie!) Besides, she has trimmed up a bit for her stint on “The View.” Rosie says that before she started her talk show in the mid-90s, she had “a mini neck thing done” because the producers kept asking her, “What are we going to do about your neck?” They really meant, “your fat,” Rosie tells the mag with her typical candor.

TV Guide’s Mary Murphy asks Rosie how things are going at “The View” and Rosie says “It’s been a great few weeks. Everyone was nervous – including me – and wondering how it would be. It is very very hard to come into an ensemble in the 10th season. But I think it’s working.”

Rosie admits that her wife, Kelli, was afraid her spouse would be overpowering on the show.
“I was told that 68 percent of the people said they thought I was going to be bossy. And Kelli said, ‘They’re right.’ The reason I don’t watch myself on things where I am being myself and not acting is that I find myself annoying. I find my voice grating. I think, ‘I would not enjoy her if I were a fan.”

After meeting Kate Clinton earlier this week and falling in love with her brilliant sense of humor, you’ll probably be seeing a lot more about her on this blog. She is currently on her 25th anniversary tour “It’s Come to This” but found the time to talk to PlanetOut and play “Who would you rather sleep with?”
Here are her answers:

Angelina Jolie or Jodie Foster?
Is there a Jodie Jolie? If not, my Angelina all the way. Or I could just watch her and Brad.

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey was AWOL on last night’s Letterman show where he had been slated to read the Top Ten List…about himself. Maybe he got wind of the list which were mock chapter titles of his book “The Confession.”

10. “The Day I Got Caught Governing Myself”
9. “How to Pretend to Like Girls for 47 Years”
8. “From Schwarzenegger to Pataki: Governors I’d Like to Oil Up”
7. “Another Confession I Can’t Resist Entenmann’s Pound Cake”
6. “At First I Just Thought I Was Bipartisan”
5. “The New Jersey Budget Crisis What Would Judy Garland Do?”
4. “A Look at the Governor’s Balls”
3. “Politicians Who Left a Bad Taste in My Mouth”
2. “How to Push Through a Bill Or a Steve or a Larry ”
1. “Why I Don’t Like Bush ”

Emmy and Tony award winning actress Cynthia Nixon, beloved for her six seasons on “Sex in the City” as the deliciously witty Miranda, finally talks a bit in detail in New York magazine about falling in love with a woman. She didn’t do the Ellen or Lance Bass thing with magazine covers announcing it etc. It’s not like the media didn’t try, but Nixon is just the low-key type.

“I feel: I feel like there was an enormous temperature spike, where I was on the front page of two daily papers, there was paparazzi outside my house. My girlfriend (Christine) had English press on her parents lawn. Every person she went to high school with got a phone call. They bought her yearbook. They almost put me on the cover of People magazine. And then it died. Because there wasnt really anything to say. I cant remember in what context they tell people this, but if someone is chasing you, stop running. And then theyll stop chasing you.?

The magzine notes that Nixon has done something “perversely radical: Shes made her own coming-out story boring.”
“I never felt like there was an unconscious part of me around that woke up or that came out of the closet; there wasnt a struggle, there wasnt an attempt to suppress. I met this woman, I fell in love with her, and Im a public figure.?
Nixon told the magazine that someday, she says, she needs to sit down with Christine and watch a marathon of “Sex and the City,” which her girlfriend has barely seen.

Tony Bennett knows how to throw an 80th birthday party! His new CD “Duets: An American Classic” pairs him up with 18 different superstars and some of them are gay! He croons with Elton John, George Michael and his great pal, k.d. Lang, and those are three of the best cuts on this wonderful disc.

I picked it up Wednesday and listened to it all the way home from work. It was “Lullaby Of Broadway” (with the Dixie Chicks) down Ventura Blvd., “Smile” (with Barbra Streisand) and “Put on a Happy Face” (with James Taylor) while waiting in line at the In & Out Burger; “Rags to Riches” (with Elton), “The Good Life” (with Billy Joel), “Cold, Cold Heart” (w/Tim McGraw) and “If I Ruled the World” (w/Celine Dion) on the 101 Freeway before taking Coldwater Canyon and being accompanied by Tony and Diane Krall singing “The Best is Yet to Come,” then Stevie Wonder and Bennett on “For Once in My Life” followed by he and k.d. Lang doing “Because of You.” His duet of “Just in Time” with Michael Buble was playing by the time I got to Sunset Blvd. and I found myself in such a good mood, the stress of the day all gone.
The rest of the commute was highlighted by Bennett singing solo on his signature tune, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” before the final song on the disc, “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” with George Michael. Since you read more about George Michael having sex in public places than his career, it’s easy to forget just what a terrific performer he is.

To read about the wave success Tony Bennett and other music legends are currently riding, read my story in today’s LA Daily News!

It was rather unfortunate that his character ends up dying in surgery but it sure was terrific seeing Peter Paige on “Grey’s Anatomy” tonight. He plays a patient with a brain tumor who, because of the location of the tumor, is compelled to speak his mind, with total honesty. at all times.
When Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) leaves the room, for example, Peter turns to Meredith and asks if they are sleeping together. Then he says, “He’s hot. I would totally have sex with him if I could.” He later says to Christina (Sandra Oh); “If I had a boyfriend, i would not be as uptight as you are.” And his last line was a killer: “I’m having surgery and only my fat sister Ruth is here with me.”

Paige has been busy since “Queer as Folk” came to an end last year after five seasons on Showtime. His role as the flamboyant and effeminate Emmett Honeycutt hasn’t typecast him at all judging from his very different performance on “Grey’s.” He also had a recurring role last season on the WB series “Related” and wrote, produced and starred in the indie film “Say Uncle” which screened at Outfest in 2005 and was recently released on DVD.

There was another gay moment on “Grey’s” tonight and that involved Joe, the bartender at the watering hole near the hospital where everyone goes to decompress or break-up or hook-up or throw-up. Addison, Dr. McDreamy’s wife, is on a bender and asks Joe if he thinks she’s hot. He says: “You’re attractive, but have a boyfriend.”

It’s been such a fun and rewarding month with all the cool people I’ve met and interviewed. And the very funny and talented Alec Mapa belongs right near the top of that list. Alec, who appeared in the film “Connie and Carla” and the recently-axed sitcom “Half & Half,” is difficult to interview because you are laughing so hard that you can’t type. We happened to meet just by chance at The Abbey earlier this year and had a good gab then and he introduced his husband, Jamison Hebert, to my friends and I.

So when Frontiers magazine asked me to do a cover story on Alec and his one-man stage show that runs this weekend, I jumped at the chance! And so, in the shameless self-promoting whore department, here is a link to that story which hit the streets today. And here are some highlights from our talk, which this time took place on the phone:

On sex:
I think gay Asian guys are really kind of desexualized, theres no kind of sexual image of them, we tend to be very asexual. In all of my [stand-up] shows, Im getting laid. Thats a really important part of my persona. If you dont hear your own story being told, you tend to think your story doesnt matter, that your story isnt valid.?

On meeting Hebert, whom he has been with for nearly five years:
I thought he was in high school so I stayed away from him,? Mapa, 41, recalls. But it turned out he was 24, had just graduated from Cal State Fullerton, and lived with his grandma. I was like, You had me at grandma.?

On his pre-Hebert dating life:
Everybody has that one relationship that makes them cry out, What was I thinking? Ive had 37. And on paper, he was none of the things I considered marriage material. I was supposed to end up with a studio executive with a coke problem and a home in Santa Barbara. Thats my history.?

On being a gay actor:
I really didnt come out professionally, but youd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not know Im gay,? he says. Then I discovered that it wouldnt make a difference. What? I was going to lose out on all the great roles for Asian males under five-foot-five? The minute I came out it was the first authentic thing I had to offer, the only authentic voice I had.

Martina took the stage after a nice video of career highlights and joked about some of her past haircuts. She told the crowd how she left her native Czechslovakia as a teenager to escape the communist rule and “so I could live a free life as a lesbian” and added that both she and Lambda “like to fight for the underdog and most of the time, we win!”
Navratilova said she is confident that same-gender marriage and other LGBT equal rights will come and believes it will happen through such family issues as second-parent adoptions. She also touted the Rainbow Card, the credit card she founded after speaking at the 1993 March on Washington in which the proceeds to to such causes as HIV/AIDS and breast cancer.
Martina concluded her remarks by saying, “My work is not done, and neither is yours.”

My friend Beth and I attended and we both met Martina, chatted a bit, had some photos taken with the legend then settled in for a great evening. Also gabbed with the evening’ host, comedienne Kate Clinton (pictured, below) who is so damned smart, funny and insightful.
“She is a very logical, plain-spoken person who lived under communist rule. She knows what it’s like not to have rights and she doesn’t want it to happen here,” Clinton told me. “It’s wonderful when a leader like Martina leads and is someone who is both plain-spoken and brilliant.”

Clinton was a big hit with the crowd and had some real zingers for the current administration: “Ann Richards dies and Dick Cheney lives….there is no justice!” She also told a funny story of when she was hanging out with Martina in Provincetown, Mass., when one of their friends challenged Martina to a watermelon seed spitting contest. She said Navratilova, ever the competitor, actually stuck a finger in the air to check the wind before spitting her seed.

I watched Martina when Clinton was onstage and she was laughing her head off. Lambda folks told me Martina had especially asked for Clinton to be the host.
Clinton told me, “When Martina asks you to do something , you best be there.” Clinton says she is happy Navratilova has retired again “so we can actually see her now!”

When Martina took the stage to accept her award, her first words were: “Kate, you are priceless.”

Just finished reading a really fascinating interview with Ian McKellen on AfterElton.com that is just terrific and written by Michael Jensen who I got to hang out with a bit at the NLGJA conference in Miami a few weeks back. Michael really goes in-depth with one of our most prominently gay actors who in recent years has had key roles in the blockbuster franchises “Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men.” He was also nominated for a best actor Oscar for his memorable performance in “Gods and Monsters.”

Here are some exceprts from what is a lengthy and insightful interview:

On being a famously out actor:
It was surprising thing to me that when I came out, I was suddenly sought out by the media at large to be the representative of many millions of other people. And I never pretended that was the perfect thing for me or anyone else to be thought of [as the representative of millions]. I’m not. I just happen to have a public profile which gives my views more importance than they deserve.

On Brokeback Mountain:
Had Brokeback Mountain been named Best Picture of the year, I don’t think that would’ve meant Hollywood was suddenly at ease with the idea there are gay people in the world. Hollywood is very ill at ease with the idea that there might be gay people in their midst. Nobody in their right mind would look to Hollywood to advance society in any way. Hollywood deals with fantasy and not with the real world at all.

On actors being out:
Are there any specific obstacles which disadvantage gay actors as opposed to gay teachers or gay firemen? I’m not sure that there are. There has been many an actor picking up the Tony in New York who thanked their same-gender partner from the stage. Yet on the other side of the continent in Hollywood, it’s not thought to be appropriate to come out. Now, who thinks it’s not appropriate is the question you’re really asking. It might well be the individual to a certain extent.

I’m sure the advice to young actors is ‘Don’t come out, [or] you’ll never be a young film star playing romantic roles.’ How many actors are like that at any one time? A half-dozen? It’s not the greatest imposition in the world to say you cannot be a Hollywood romantic lead in his 20s if it’s known you are gay. Get another job. Became a character actor like me. Become a director. Become a screenwriter. Become an agent. A designer. Become a producer. There are plenty of openly gay people in all of those jobs. What’s so enduring about being the next Brad Pitt?

I’ve never been welcomed with anything but open arms in Hollywood. When I held hands with my boyfriend at the Oscars, nobody seemed to turn a hair. I think I had in my pocket at the time my Oscar acceptance speech saying I was proud though a little bit disappointed to be the first openly gay actor who’d ever won an Oscar. I didn’t get to make that speech because it was the year Hollywood discovered there were black people in the world. You’ve got to laugh, really. The poor actor who feels he is never going to be a leading romantic actor in his youth, go do it somewhere else. Go do it on Broadway.